I just like to listen to music. At home, in the car, wherever.
And I am of the mind that newer, more convenient music formats have offered a
steady decline in quality over the standard vinyl LP (cd, then MP3, now MP4 and such) that
they were meant to replace. Yeah, it's hard to play a record in the car, and they
are a bit fussy in terms of cleaning, system setup, and all, but they simply sound better
than standard cd's on a modest, well-setup system. I remember as a kid envying my
uncles and their shiny, silver-faced, vinyl-based systems and the record collections that
went along with it. (Lionel Richie, anyone?) Back in the 70's and early 80's it was
nothing for a self-respecting guy to drop a grand or two on their stereo system.
Given inflation, we should be happy to pay that much for hi-fi sound nowadays, but
convenience has trumped quality. All one needs is an Ipod and a pile of MP3's from
Itunes, or even the old Napster if you really want to cheap out. No messy and heavy
records and their jackets to store, no cd jewel cases to break, and all we need is our JBL
Docking Station from Best Buy to crank up the party. What's been lost is not just
the sound itself, but also the culture of music listening and collecting.

My 'system', if you'd call it such a thing, is not 'hi-fi' in the ultimate
sense of the term, but it makes real music, and I like it. Would I like to upgrade
some things? Of course, but for now I can put a plate on the stereo and not have my
eardrums slowly scraped away by shrill MP3 nonsense.

Acoustic Research AR-11x 'Hi-Res'
floorstanders. These were
from the early period when Recoton took over the AR badge. They are a bit of
heretical in AR circles since they are a bass-reflex design, but they really are a good
speaker. After this brief foray into the two channel market AR/Recoton focused more
on chintzy home theatre speakers. These units are very sensitive (91 db), have a
built-in 8" non-powered subwoofer with a 100 hz crossover point, and are bi-wireable,
something I would like to use in the future. I haven't 'auditioned' a bunch of
speakers with this system but I feel that these are really good for under a grand.

I also have some cheap Dual outdoor speakers on the deck which work okay
for the moment, but leave a little to be desired. These are from the new Dual line
run by some Chinese outfit and don't have anything to do with the old German company aside
from the badge.

Anyone into vinyl needs to keep their
records clean, and an RCM is the best way to do it. Rather than buy a nitty gritty
or VPI for $500, I built this unit using an old vacuum cleaner motor and a simple pine
box. Plans for a similar unit can be found
here. I presently use Phoenix Enzyme Wash,
Mobile Fidelity
Super Vinyl Wash and a homebrew cleaning solution of 1:2 99% ethyl alcohol:distilled
water with a drop of Tween wetting agent for really dirty
records.

This
is built based on a plan from TNT Audio. Shelves are two pieces of MDF glued together and mounted
through treaded 5/8" rod risers. It's very stable, especially after I added the
high-tensile wire anchors on the sides. Shelves are infinitely adjustable and easily
leveled.

I built
permanent storage shelves from 1/2" pine in my 'media closet' and can hold around 800
LP's and the same number of cd's. This works pretty well. In the dead space in
the corner I included stash spaces for accessories.